lighteall



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

r A. H, LIGHTHALL.

UNDERGROUND GABLE WAY. No. 274,505. Patented Mar.27,1883.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. H. LIGHTHALL.

UNDERGROUND GABLE WAY.

No. 274,505. Patented Mar. 27,1883.

- I INVENTEIFL mifl L/Z/Z UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

ALMERTN H. LIGHTHALL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

UNDERGROUND CABLE-WAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 274,505, dated March 27, 1883.

Application filed November 18, 1882.

To all whomit may concern Be it known that I, ALMERIN H. LIGHT- HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Underground Gable-Ways, of which the i'ollowing is a specification.

My inven tion relates to improvements in the construction of tunnels or passages 'for underground endless cables, and more especially to such. cable-ways as are curved in the direction of their length; and the objects-of my improvements are, first, to provide a cable-way and .curve-room so constructed that all necessary repairs to the cable-way'and to the guiding-drums which carry the cable around the curve may be performed without removing any portion of the roadway or surface of the street; second, to provide a curve-drum for a cable-way, so constructed as to permit of the removal and replacement of any portion of the cable-bearing surface of the drum-rim; third, to provide an improved construction and arrangementof the guide-rails which conduct the grip around the curve; and, lastly, to certain other details of construction, which will more fully appear hereinafter. I

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several figures, Figure l is a ground plan of the supporting-walls of my improved cable-way. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of one of the cablepassages and the guiding-drums. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the drum-frame. Fig.4 is a sectional view on line X X of Fig. 3.

The wallsA A are given a degree of curvature which corresponds with the curve given to the track-rails upon which the car travels. The transverse walls 8' B do not form a radial line with the walls A A, but are carried outon a line at right angles to a chord of which the walls A A form the arc. The walls B are provided with openings or doorways C, which extend the whole height of the wall, and are suficiently wide to admit of the passage of a workmanfrom one compartment to the other. Upon the inner segmental walls are placed girders or channel-beams D 1), upon which is bolted the lower box or step, E, which carries (N0 model.)

the vertical spindle F of the drums G, of which latter there are any desired number, arranged. at stated intervals apart, and they are set so as to bring thepointof contact with the mov- 1 ing wire rope over the center of the openings 0 and beneath the grip-slot. The upper end of the drum-spindle is held within a box, H, secured in place upon the angle-beams I I, as seen in Fig. 2. Upon all the walls, with the exception of such portions as support the drums, I place girders orI-beams S S, in two or more vertical tiers,aud connectand brace them. by means of deck-beams or wooden timbers, or both. Upon the top tier of beams are closely laid the timbers or planking, over which is spread the asphaltum or earth which forms the roadway. The grip-lever extends downward between the slot-irons J J, which are attached by angle-irons to the deck-beams and girders.

The inner guide-plate, K,along which the grip passes, is made of angle-iron, and its vertical flange projects downward and overlaps the upper edge of the drum. The length of each section of the guide-plate is equal to the distance between the centers of any two adjacent drums, and each section is secured at either end to the I-beams, resting upon the partitionwalls B, which form the compartments within which the drums revolve. By this construction I am enabled, by simply taking oif one section of the guard-rail, to remove the wheel which is opposite to it from its compartment into the alley-way and roll itthrough the doors to the main hatchway. The outer guide-rail, L, is canted by means of wedges M, so that the upper edge of the hearing or guide flange projects over and beyond the lower edge, as shown in Fig. 2, and upon which the outer pulley of the grip travels after the rope has been dropped and the grip raised up. An opening, N, is made in the roadway, through which a rod may be passed and employed for drawing out the spindle of the drum, should it become necessary to remove the whole wheel. The drums over which the cable travels are made of cast-iron with radial arms, and the rim Q is hollowed out to receive a filling of wood, over which is placed in sections a band of iron having a concaved face, and the whole is secured to the rim by countersunk bolts. Flanges O are cast upon the radial arms, and to them IOC are bolted the wooden filling or felly P P, the. outer surface of which is covered witha tire or plate iron, which forms a continuous surface with the hollowed rim Q. The face of the drum is somewhat beveled from the lower edge inwardly toward the upper edge; and the face of the drum may be covered with rawhide strings or hands wrapped around it to prevent the wearing away of the cable. Carrying reels or pulleys R are placed at proper intervals apart to sustain the wire rope or cable and prevent it from falling below the lower edge of the drums. Beneath theline of the carry ing-pulleys It, 1 place a series of troughs or concave metal plates, which are made in sections, overlapping at their lower ends and secured by metal clips attached to the ends of the walls or supporting-beams, and are used for carrying 011' water and foreign substances that may findentrance through the grip-slot.

It will be seen by the above construction that I am enabled to provide a solid and substantial cable-way or curve-chamber, so arranged and proportioned as to admit of the passage of workmen, and perinitof the removal or replacement of any worn-out portions of the structure without the necessity of digging up and obstructing the street.

As a modification the short walls which support the drums may be'omitted and their place occupied by a casting having apertures through it to admit of the passage of a workman.

manner and for the purpose herein set forth and specified. I

'2. In an underground cable-way, the guide plates or rails K, when made in sections of a length equal to the distance between the centers of any two adjacent drums,and secured to the intermediate supporting-beams, SS, resting upon the partition-walls of the drum-chambers, substantially as and for the purpose speci- In testimony that I claim the foregoing'l have hereunto set my hand and seal this 2d day of November, 1882.

ALMERIN H. LIGHTHALL. [Li S] Witnesses:

CHAS. E. KELLY, \VILMER BRADFORD. 

